UVA JAZZ ENSEMBLE presents Jazz Is A Global Village

with guest alto saxophonist, Pureum Jin

Saturday, November 11 - 2017

PRESS RELEASE – November 11, 2017, the UVA JAZZ ENSEMBLE presents Jazz Is A Global Village with guest alto saxophonist, Pureum Jin.

On Saturday, November 11, in Old Cabell Hall, the UVA Jazz Ensemble, directed by trumpeter/composer John D’earth, will present their fall offering, Jazz Is A Global Village, featuring as their special guest alto saxophonist, Pureum Jin. The concert is aptly named.  It is based on D’earth’s experience of meeting Ms. Jin, this past summer, at his weekly Thursday night gig at Miller’s on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.  The extended engagement has been a mecca for jazz lovers and jazz players for decades.

“I love the musical and personal drama of having people sit in,” says D’earth of his Miller’s band, once a quintet but now, with the addition of Pureum Jin on alto sax, a sextet with three horns.  D’earth recounts what happened that night.

“Pureum walked into Millers with her alto case on her shoulder, a young, vibrant, visibly pregnant South Korean woman who had, it turned out, recently received a Masters degree in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music, in NYC, and, even more recently, moved here to live with her husband, Hyeongjin Kim, who had recently graduated from the Darden School of Business.  We knew none of this.  Excellent musicians frequently sit in at Millers but Pureum really fits with our band by both her instrument and her musical energy. She is a consummate jazz artist, one of a kind, and she revealed that to all of us there from the very first note she played and with every note we’ve heard from her, since. The next day we learned that, through the Manhattan School, she would be allowed to maintain her visa status in the US if she found appropriate musical activities.  I asked her to join my band immediately.  And she has been helping out by rehearsing with the jazz ensemble and advising the saxes.  It seemed an obvious idea to ask her to be our guest artist.  She makes it absolutely clear that jazz, which is Black America’s musical gift to the rest of us, is a universal revelation - the blues changes everything – and Pureum’s playing is drenched and steeped in the blues and in the freedom of expression available to a master improviser.”

The concert will feature big band classics like Woody Herman’s version of John Coltrane’s Lazy Bird, Thad Jones’ Don’t Git Sassy, and two arrangements of Dizzy Gillespie compositions, Groovin’ High, and Con Alma.  Phil Wilson’s famous arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge, will feature Ms. Jin’s alto saxophone and her contributions will be many, woven throughout the concert.

The Jazz Ensemble recently performed two Duke Ellington compositions for UVA’s Bicentennial and they will perform those, again, in the November concert, Rockin’ in Rhythm, and Black and Tan Fantasy.

A new composition from community member and trombonist, Zack Beamer, entitled, If You’re Not Outraged, references the band’s concern with social issues that have come to a head, recently, in Charlottesville.

“Jazz music is closely aligned with matters of social justice, individual freedom, and confronting the status quo,” says D’earth.  “We must never stray far from that.  And that is why we say, when presenting a master jazz musician from Korea, that jazz is a global village.  It is why we say if you’re not outraged by blatant racism, distortions, and hate you may not be paying attention.  That’s the beauty of music.  It only exists in the present moment and one must pay attention if one is to hear and feel something.”

On November 11, Jazz Is A Global Village promises the excitement of UVA’s big band sounds and the artistry of a major new musical voice in our area, Pureum Jin.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Road, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner. 

Tickets are $10 for the General Public, $9 for UVA Faculty and staff, $5 for students, and free for UVA Students who reserve in advance.  Tickets can be purchased at the UVA Arts Box Office at http://www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/ or 434.924.3984.  Tickets will also be sold in the lobby of Old Cabell Hall one hour prior to the event start time.

All events are subject to change. 

Address

UVA Department of Music
112 Old Cabell Hall
P.O. Box 400176 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4176

Email: music@virginia.edu